Daily Independent Online.
*
Monday,July 19, 2004.
World Bank
criticises media over FOI Bill
By Bimbo Kesington
Reporter, Lagos
Media houses in Nigeria got the bashing of
the World Bank for not showing a strong commitment and seriousness in pushing
the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill into an act.
A consultant with the bank, Roderick
MacDonnell, said, “There is a need to fight corruption and make our
leaders accountable, but unfortunately the media is not doing enough to push
the FOI bill.”
He spoke at a workshop organised by the
bank for journalists at the weekend with the theme: Investigative journalism
skills and capacity building.
As he spoke, the bank has appointed Dr.
Hafez Ghanem as the new Country Director to coordinate its affairs in Nigeria.
Ghanem is expected to resume duties in
Abuja on Tuesday. He is taking
over from Dr. Mark Tomlinson whose assignment in Nigeria ended July 14.
MacDonnell said the media’s
involvement in ensuring that the bill is passed would determine the success of
making it into an act. “Without the press’ input in ensuring that
the FOI bill is passed there might be a problem into making it an act,”
he said.
He also said there was a need for the media
to assist the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that have been in the
forefront of the crusade for the passage of the FOI bill.
MacDonnell urged journalists to
aggressively pursue the passage of the FOI Bill, saying only 53 countries in
the world have passed the FOI Bill into law. He advised journalists to shun unethical
practices associated with the profession in Nigeria, as it was a serious
hindrance to the success of investigative journalism.
It was however disclosed during the course
of the workshop that there was also a need to educate Media house owners on the
importance of news stories taking priority over adverts.
Ghanem, an Egyptian, joined the bank in
1983 as a professional and has worked as an economist and sector manager on
several countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Tunisia, Countries
in West Africa, Europe and Central Asia.
